For this episode of The Left Unsaid, we sat down with Nora Lester Murad, a Jewish-American author, educator and activist who married a Palestinian Muslim and raised three daughters in the West Bank.

Nora provides a clear-eyed view of the way in which organizations like the Anti-Defamation League misrepresent themselves as anti-bias or educational resources, weaponizing claims of antisemitism to push Zionist ideology and suppress Palestinian humanity.

For 2 years, US policymakers have enabled genocidal violence in Gaza. For decades before that, they have supported occupation and apartheid in the West Bank and aggression elsewhere in the Middle East. Complicity in such slaughter is partly enabled by education that erases the humanity of Palestinians for our young people.

You can join efforts such as “Drop the ADL from Schools” campaign and #DropTheADL.

For more from Nora Lester Murad, we recommend checking out her collection of reflections on being a foreigner in Palestine, I Found Myself in Palestine, and award-winning young adult novel, Ida in the Middle. She can be found on Instagram at @nora_lester_murad or through her blog at www.NoraLesterMurad.com.

As always, join our mailing list and find more episodes at TheLeftUnsaid.net

This week, we bring you an interview from a few months ago, when high-schooler Finn McElwee sat down with North Carolina State Senator Graig Meyer to talk about his decision to oppose "genocide" in Gaza.

A former educator, Senator Meyer emphasizes the importance of allowing classroom discussion of genocide against Palestinians alongside study of the Holocaust and other great crimes of the powerful.

He also provides thoughtful analysis about the danger presented by President Trump's weaponization of accusations of antisemitism.

This interview, conducted in July, remains relevant as we hope the ceasefire will hold and the past 2 years of Israel's genocidal violence against Gazans will finally end.

In addition, in this episode, Meg and Patrick analyze a New York Times article that previews the ways in which pro-Israeli propaganda will be aimed at Americans, at substantial risk to our now obviously-fragile democracy.

Both legacy news media like CBS and social media like TikTok are likely to be subject to even greater censorship. The struggle for Palestinian humanity is tied up with our fight for democracy in the US.

Links:

• NC State Senator Graig Meyer's op-ed: "Let's talk Gaza, antisemitism, and Trump's manipulation of it all", June 18, 2025, Cardinal & Pine
• New York Times article, " A Test Now for Israel: Can It Repair Its Ties to Americans?", by David M. Halbfinger on Oct. 12, 2025

This week, senior members of the Biden administration presented their defense before history, explaining or pointing fingers over their support for Israel’s assault on Gaza. In this episode, we pick that defense apart and compare it to earlier justifications of US imperial crimes.

Read NPR’s article, sourced from a couple dozen senior Biden officials: “We Didn’t Do Enough”

If we understand the failings of the establishment Democratic party, we empower ourselves to overcome them. And a rising crop of challengers aim to do just that, willing to name this moral collapse and oppose it.

Plus, the enormous Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying aid to Gazans, gives us hope, even as US warships threaten Venezuela on the other side of the ocean.
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